[demodan23]

Not sure how I feel about these pads? Are they amazing or do they make it worse?

They fit my head better but also are thinner thus augmenting the clamping force.

As for the sound, they definitely become airier and more open, but I lose a bit of the body I really liked originally.

That being said, nothing is offensive. Voices peak slightly less, (these make the vocals so clear they can be piercing relative to what I am used to if the track is vocal-centric), there's a cleaner rumble, and the gusto of the guitars is not as dominant.

These pads are also a higher quality material and the red and blue looks cool, but I don't get to see the amazing driver as well with the mesh that they use. (Also- I found a small splintered edge of the wood on one of my drivers. No effects on anything, but a bit controversial. At least I can really see that it's wood and behaves as such.)

Details on female vocals are insane. I'm hearing people clear their throats and their lips part. Was not expecting that so soon let alone at all. That being said, on a different song by the same artist (Big Thief), their voice seemed a bit too piercing.

Is it worth trying a new pad?

 

[demodan23]

 

[demodan23]

They seem to match or surpass the vocal detail of the PM-2's while carrying much of the same presence the NightOwl's have, with considerably more detail than those. They do not have the presence or reverb of the NightOwl's but match or exceed it in space. Soundstage probably goes to the PM-2's, but the PM-2's feel softer and a bit distant. The vocalist feels right in your ear on the JVC's while the room expands outwards from there. There is more of an edge to the music than either the NightOwl or PM-2, with the exception of deep bass and the highest of highs. I appreciate the softer highs while still having this level of detail and impact.

So far these headphones do wonders for both male and female vocals, with the highest of female vocals being a bit much. Guitars sound amazing. The NightOwl's give electronic music more life, while the brilliant smoothness and separation of the PM-2's make busier tracks a joy. They respond well to volume similarly to the PM-2's, whereas the NightOwls have a slightly quieter sweet spot, but while the PM-2's are universal in this regard, the JVC's are more track sensitive. The JVC's are the most fatiguing, but it is very clear why and it is not an issue.

I think the only thing I am longing for is a bit more gusto and thickness that the stock pads had, however in some tracks I really welcome that the thickness is not there. Were the Brainwavz good at balancing this? Should I try other YAXI pads, or should I appreciate the unique flavor this headphone brings to my collection?

 

[demodan23]

I bought a pair of Youkamoo balanced 3.5mm to XLR cables for my JVC HA-SW01's. They are a beautiful cable, the best I've seen for this price. However- my headphones don't work with them. They seem to plug in beautifully and fit flush, but no sound plays. Is this a problem with the cable being defective, or the cable not working with the JVC? What are some good alternatives anyone may suggest?

Cables in question:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08LF36XD2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[demodan23]

Would this be enough to cause the cable to not work? Note the shoddy soldering job that missed the terminal.

 

[demodan23]

The YAXI St2 Pads are really not the best for this headphone in my opinion unless you like incredibly bright music. They remove almost all of the little sub-bass the JVC's have and reduce the mid-bass so that it is not gone but much cleaner and more refined. The upper mids and low highs become extremely fatiguing albeit very crisp and detailed.

They essentially lower the bass, boost higher frequencies, and clean up the sound so that it feels more direct and quicker with less reverberation and much more clarity.

This really does not work for me- only certain tracks work to the strengths of these headphones at that point.

The stock pads are much more balanced but do have an issue with a slightly reduction in clarity. One of the biggest issues with this headphone is that most earpads do not have the size to let the sound breathe and feel more open and clear. The YAXI St2 Pads were great because they were thinner and created a cone for the sound to be amplified and played in a larger space, fully wrapping around your ears. However, their material choice designed to increase soundstage and absorb sound behind the ear made the headphones too bright and killed bass. Just for fun I tried these headphones with some huge Pioneer SE-Monitor5 Velour earpads and while they did not fit, the sound was excellent except for the brightness introduced by the velour material. I have no doubt that some kind of large diameter, thick fenestrated leather pads or thick leather pads would do wonders for the sound of this headphone. There is a brightness that needs to be tamed without being disrupted and blocked from its true potential. I feel that the original pads necessitated a stronger tuning in these higher frequencies to balance out the muddiness introduced by reflections and the weird, almost lazy, shape of the earpad. This makes it harder to pair with something like the YAXI St2 Pads.

I am going to try the YAXI ATH-MSR7 Comfort Pads that claim better mid-range linearity and clarity without compromising the general original sound signature, ie no bass drop or treble increases. I am hoping that this will be the ultimate pairing for the JVC's.

Another negative of the St2 Pads is their horrendous comfort on this headphone for those with larger heads. The thin pad surface area makes the clamping force really felt below your air and the stiffer foam to keep the pad shape means it is unforgiving. I am hoping the earpads with comfort in their name will help with this.

If none of these options work I may pull out my sewing machine and design my own earpads- as I know the sound is there, and the quality as well, it is just about unlocking that potential in a balanced manner.

 

[demodan23]

Just got the Brainwavz hybrid pads (not angled) and these are far and away the absolute best pads I have tried so far for these headphones.

A warm yet more balanced signature that clarifies the midrange without destroying the bass while also preserving treble detail without peakiness.

In a couple of weeks I will be able to test the YAXI ATH MSR7 Comfort pads, but I have a feeling that these will be the ones moving forward.

These headphones need open pads that go straight from the bottom (where the driver is) to your head with a wider opening so that your ears can fully fit inside. It also feels like they need fenestrated lambskin or PU to get rid of the resonance that makes the upper mids too sharp without destroying the bass.


These headphones are now one of the best sounding in my collection and I have a balanced cable still on the way


What they do to improve the sound:

- Clearer separation between mid-bass, low-mids, and mids- no murkiness or muffling

- No peaky upper mids/female vocals - the vocals are super smooth with the same excellent great presence the JVC's always have

- Better deep bass rumble - the YAXI's completely removed this and the stock pads do not have the space or shape to help the deep bass develop

- Accurate highs

- Improved detail resolving - the detail is always there in its most obvious forms with all pads, but these pads let the detail shine as it comes from the driver rather than ruining some parts of it

- More balanced FR

- Extreme clarity improvements

- Improves perceived speed - No frequencies except bass and low bass rumble or reverberate in a way that would cause an unclean sound, decay is faster for the frequencies that need it

- Fits my entire ear with a more comfortable headphone cup position and clamp (the YAXI's are god awful for comfort and the stock feel on-ear to me)

- Handles busier music better - This was an issue in stock and YAXI configuration, now it is not noticeable as an issue

 

[demodan23]

On sale $100 off at Cutchfield, even less if you get open box:

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_257HASW01/JVC-HA-SW01.html?tp=60835

Excellent value when you replace the cables with balanced and go for the Brainwavz pads. These headphones love tube amps....

 

[GREQ]

A very late unboxing that nobody asked for...












And perhaps the only somewhat reliable measurement of these headphones on the whole internet:

These were quite difficult to measure accurately.
Bass is definitely a touch less rolled off than what is shown in the graph - it sounds more linear... so imagine the graph on the left side doesn't dip much, if at all.
The dip at 3-4kHz is certainly a miniDSP EARS artefact, as it is not audible in tone generator sweeps.
The dip going down up to 2kHz is real, but it does not continue dipping.

I've only had them for 2 days, so impressions will come later.
Despite that, I already know these aren't going anywhere.

 

[demodan23]

A very late unboxing that nobody asked for...












And perhaps the only somewhat reliable measurement of these headphones on the whole internet:

These were quite difficult to measure accurately.
Bass is definitely a touch less rolled off than what is shown in the graph - it sounds more linear... so imagine the graph on the left side doesn't dip much, if at all.
The dip at 3-4kHz is certainly a miniDSP EARS artefact, as it is not audible in tone generator sweeps.
The dip going down up to 2kHz is real, but it does not continue dipping.



I've only had them for 2 days, so impressions will come later.
Despite that, I already know these aren't going anywhere.

Awesome analysis!

You have to try them with the Brainwavz hybrid pads and balanced cables! I'd be curious to see measurements with the hybrid pads. The stock pads muddy the sound and that high 6-7k spike gives a harshness to the sound where the hybrid pads make everything more linear to my ears with better bass and clarity, without killing the highs.

 

[GREQ]

The stock pads muddy the sound and that high 6-7k spike gives a harshness to the sound where the hybrid pads make everything more linear to my ears with better bass and clarity, without killing the highs.

That doesn't sound like what I'm hearing at all.
Perhaps you prefer a leaner sounding headphone?
It may come as a surprise to you, but I'm totally content with the stock tuning. The bass/mids seem to strike a perfect balance between warm and never-too-bassy. The treble is present, articulate and never piercing or harsh; the peak of the 6-7kHz spike doesn't exceed the bass/mids volume.

For me, this tuning retainins a good amount of sub-bass, possess detail that competes with flagship level headphones and somehow takes all the fatigue out of the sound. I'm extremely impressed with this tuning.
I've already got several other neutral or close-to-neutral closed-back headphones. This is the perfect contrast.

In any case, I'm not sure I'd fork out another 30 euros to try a set of pads that, by the sound of things, would make them 'worse'

I did roll 4 other sets of pads but nothing sounded good, so nothing to report there.

Also, I've got no balanced source, so I veeeeeeeery likely won't be getting a balanced cable any time soon

 

[demodan23]

That doesn't sound like what I'm hearing at all.
Perhaps you prefer a leaner sounding headphone?
It may come as a surprise to you, but I'm totally content with the stock tuning. The bass/mids seem to strike a perfect balance between warm and never-too-bassy. The treble is present, articulate and never piercing or harsh; the peak of the 6-7kHz spike doesn't exceed the bass/mids volume.

For me, this tuning retainins a good amount of sub-bass, possess detail that competes with flagship level headphones and somehow takes all the fatigue out of the sound. I'm extremely impressed with this tuning.
I've already got several other neutral or close-to-neutral closed-back headphones. This is the perfect contrast.

In any case, I'm not sure I'd fork out another 30 euros to try a set of pads that, by the sound of things, would make them 'worse'

I did roll 4 other sets of pads but nothing sounded good, so nothing to report there.

Also, I've got no balanced source, so I veeeeeeeery likely won't be getting a balanced cable any time soon

I don't think it is tuning that the pads are altering to get the effects I want. I absolutely love the stock tuning of the JVC's, but found that their strengths improved with the pad swap. To be clear, these pads specifically produce the effects I am looking for because of the perforations in them that I feel help remove resonance in certain frequencies by being less reflective to the mid/upper mids but not affecting the bass and highs as much. It's not something you could EQ out. Also- the shape of them provides a clearer path to the driver and they are physically larger, providing greater room for soundstage and a tighter seal for sub bass. I even tried other pads that were similar to stock and none of them brought out these headphones like these specific Brainwavz did.

Do you have Amazon where you are from? You can return them for free if you do not like them, but it really brings out the strengths of the headphones in a dramatic way. It's effects on the tuning on minimal in terms of its unique signature- that is also the reason I love my JVC's so much. I've never heard a headphone with such spectacular vocals, and I've got some pretty good competitors.

 

[GREQ]

I don't think it is tuning that the pads are altering to get the effects I want. I absolutely love the stock tuning of the JVC's, but found that their strengths improved with the pad swap. To be clear, these pads specifically produce the effects I am looking for because of the perforations in them that I feel help remove resonance in certain frequencies by being less reflective to the mid/upper mids but not affecting the bass and highs as much. It's not something you could EQ out. Also- the shape of them provides a clearer path to the driver and they are physically larger, providing greater room for soundstage and a tighter seal for sub bass. I even tried other pads that were similar to stock and none of them brought out these headphones like these specific Brainwavz did.

Do you have Amazon where you are from? You can return them for free if you do not like them, but it really brings out the strengths of the headphones in a dramatic way. It's effects on the tuning on minimal in terms of its unique signature- that is also the reason I love my JVC's so much. I've never heard a headphone with such spectacular vocals, and I've got some pretty good competitors.

I'm still skeptical, not because I don't find your impressions compelling, but because I've never done a pad roll that didn't alter the frequency response.

Aside from that, their price on amazon here is almost $40... more than double what they sell for in USA, and a totally irrational price for a bit of fabric and foam that I can't justify.... even if they DO sound that good, I simply don't want to pay that much.... that's Sennheiser HD600/650 ear pad territory.

I may first try to acquire some aftermarket hybrid pads from aliexpress. They're a more palateable $6.

 

[demodan23]

I'm still skeptical, not because I don't find your impressions compelling, but because I've never done a pad roll that didn't alter the frequency response.

Aside from that, their price on amazon here is almost $40... more than double what they sell for in USA, and a totally irrational price for a bit of fabric and foam that I can't justify.... even if they DO sound that good, I simply don't want to pay that much.... that's Sennheiser HD600/650 ear pad territory.

I may first try to acquire some aftermarket hybrid pads from aliexpress. They're a more palateable $6.

There are some convincing aliexpress hybrid pads that look practically identical to the brainwavz ones, I'd just make sure they are sized similarly. I haven't tried them myself so I can't vouch for them but that sounds like a smart move.

I agree with the altering of the frequency response, but this swap was not with the intention of getting a better frequency response. It's less like swapping between velour and leather because you want more or less bass. For me personally, the sound was noticeably muddied and resonant with the stock pads. I then tried previously recommended YAXI st2 pads and while those brought out insane detail they killed the amazing bass and really made the highs harsh and as emphasized as possible. What I realized was that the spatial and material characteristics were having detail and clarity related improvements but at the cost of severely damaging the tonality. I may try some real leather oval pads without perforations in the future just because these headphones respond so well.

Basically my hypothesis is this: while the original pads are what the headphone was tuned for, its pillow sewn construction where the pad interior wall bends outwards as it goes further inside creates a mushy and poorly defined obstruction in front of the driver. This combined with a lack of depth, mushy foam, and not enough space to fully fit the ear means that the driver is being partially blocked by the earpads and there is not enough space for both proper ear fit and a full seal around the ear. My goal with the brainwavz, aside from trying getting rid of the odd resonant frequencies from most pads and the fuzziness of the old pads, was simply to negate these drawbacks and let the driver cleanly and clearly interact with the ear like it would on higher end headphones with bigger ear pads.

So far it has worked brilliantly, but this thread is making me want to get some aliexpress pads and try something like lambskin.

Regardless of what you choose to do, the tuning of this headphone is amazing and I am glad you love it in stock form. I just don't think the fun stops there! It's certainly not like my Oppo's that crash and burn with anything other than stock pads in my experience.

 

[GREQ]

There are some convincing aliexpress hybrid pads that look practically identical to the brainwavz ones, I'd just make sure they are sized similarly. I haven't tried them myself so I can't vouch for them but that sounds like a smart move.

I've ordered these
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001874082387.html?spm=a2g0o.9042311.0.0.7bbd4c4drkWrzl
Now, looking forward to the 'upgrade'.
If it's not what I hoped for, then I've got another 20 headphones waiting in line to try these pads out too

And of course, I will make measurements once it arrives.

I just don't think the fun stops there!

I certainly hope so!